One dead in Italian Matera building collapse

ROME, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- One missing woman was found dead late on Saturday many hours after a residential building collapsed in the Italian ancient city of Matera.

The long search for the missing ended with the recovery of the 31-year-old woman's body, Rai television said.

Earlier in the day, rescue teams rescued seven people, digging in the debris with their hands to prevent further collapse.

Among the survivors there was a 57-year-old man who remained in the debris for more than 12 hours.

Local authorities have opened an investigation to ascertain responsibilities, according to ANSA news agency. The building reportedly hosted four apartments in the old city center.

"The whole house was shaking, there was a lot of dust, it looked like an earthquake and thought I would die," a 50-year-old disabled who survived in the collapse was quoted as saying by ANSA.

Deputy Interior Minister Filippo Bubbico, who arrived in the southern city to monitor the situation, said some "inexperience" in the ongoing works at the ground floor could have caused the accident.

Matera's old town is home of the "Sassi of Matera" ancient cave dwellings, the most outstanding example of a troglodyte settlement in the Mediterranean region, listed as one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

NEW DELHI, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Indian authorities on Monday said that the death toll in the under-construction building collapse in the western Indian state of Goa has reached 17, with the recovery of more bodies from under the debris late Sunday night.

The under-construction five-storeyed building collapsed like a pack of cards in the town of Canacona on Saturday, trapping underneath it mainly laborers who were working on the site. Full story